1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates principally to a system for setting up a call at any time involving a passenger on a vehicle. It is currently possible to set up a call at any time involving a person subscribing to a satellite mobile telephone network and having a portable terminal that can transmit and receive radio signals. It is not possible to use a portable terminal on board an aircraft, or other vehicles, whose walls block the radio signals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art systems enabling a telephone call to be set up from an aircraft to the ground cannot set up a telephone call from the ground to an aircraft because they are not able to locate a given passenger, even if they subscribe to a mobile telephone network. Also, these prior art systems use radio links with ground stations that serve only a small portion of the surface of the Earth. Furthermore, these prior art systems do not allow the use of standard mobile telephones, which many passengers possess. Nor do they allow the use of data terminals.
A first object of the invention is to propose a system enabling a telephone or data call to be set up at any time from the ground to a passenger on an aircraft, or vice versa.
The invention provides a node enabling a call involving a passenger on a vehicle to be set up at any time, the vehicle including an onboard station for connecting voice terminals and data terminals to a satellite network, and the node including an intermediate network including at least one node having means connected to the satellite network and to at least one terrestrial telecommunication network to associate a terrestrial telecommunication network directory number with a satellite network directory number for each passenger on the vehicle.
The above node enables a call to be set up to a passenger because it enables the satellite network to see the passenger as a subscriber of the satellite network, although this is not really the case, and because it enables a terrestrial mobile telephone network or a terrestrial fixed telephone network to see the passenger as a subscriber to a terrestrial network and to connect to them, although they are in fact inaccessible via the terminals of fixed networks and base stations of terrestrial mobile telephone networks for as long as they remain inside the vehicle.
In a prefered embodiment the node includes, for associating a terrestrial mobile telephone telecommunication network directory number with a satellite network directory number:
at least one base station simulator connected to the terrestrial mobile telephone network to simulate the behavior of a dummy base station of the terrestrial mobile telephone network, and
n mobile terminal simulators connected to the base station simulator to simulate the behavior of n mobile terminals remaining at all times within the area of the base station and which correspond to n passengers in the vehicle, the n simulators being connected to the onboard station via the satellite network, being adapted to be called via the terrestrial mobile telephone network using the directory numbers of the n passengers, and retransmitting calls to n subscriber numbers of the satellite network respectively associated with the n directory numbers.
The above node enables a call to be set up to a passenger designated by their terrestrial mobile telephone network directory number because it enables the terrestrial mobile telephone network to see the passenger as a mobile subscriber even though they are in fact inaccessible via base stations of terrestrial mobile telephone networks for as long as they remain inside the vehicle.
The invention also provides an onboard station for setting up a call involving a passenger on a vehicle at any time, the station enabling voice terminals and data terminals in the vehicle to be connected to a satellite network which is in turn connected to a terrestrial mobile telephone network, which onboard station includes:
means for storing directory numbers of passengers in the vehicle who are subscribers to a terrestrial mobile telephone network and associating them with respective satellite network subscriber numbers, and
means for routing a call to a passenger on the basis of a satellite network subscriber number used to route the call.
The above onboard station enables a telephone call to be set up at any time from the ground to a passenger on an aircraft because it enables the satellite network to see each passenger as a subscriber of the satellite network, although this is not really the case, and the passenger is in fact only a subscriber of a terrestrial mobile telephone network.
Another object of the invention is to propose a system enabling a carrier to charge for entertainment services on board a vehicle in a simple manner.
The invention further provides a system for billing entertainment services used by a passenger on board a vehicle, the system including:
means for storing a directory number of a passenger using the services and who is also a subscriber to a telecommunication network and for associating with the directory number an account for the entertainment services, and
transmitter means for communicating a directory number and the amount to be charged to the corresponding passenger to a service point managing telephone billing of the telecommunication network, in order to bill the entertainment services with telephone services used by the passenger within the network to which they subscribe.
The above system automates billing and most importantly simplifies it for the carrier, as the carrier transfers the charge to a telephone network operator who routinely bills the passenger for telephone service.
Another object of the invention is to enable standard mobile telephones to be used on board aircraft whilst preventing a negligent or distracted passenger leaving their mobile telephone in operation during take-off and landing.
The invention also provides a system including means for receiving signals transmitted by a mobile telephone terminal in use, in order to detect the presence of a mobile telephone terminal in use, and means for giving an alarm if it detects such signals.
The invention will be better understood and other features will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.